Zippers of the separable end type



Dec. 27, 1955 H. w. WILD ZIPPERS OF THE SEPARABLE END TYPE Filed Feb. 5, 1954 TTORNEY United States Patent ZIPPERS OF THE SEPARABLE END TYPE Henry W. Wild, Waterbury, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn., 21 corporation of Connecticut Application February 5, 1954, Serial No. 408,343

3 Claims. (Cl. 24-205.11)

This invention relates to zippers of the separable eno type and particularly to an improvement in that type of separable bottom connections now in general use whereby the slider will be held in proper position when one stringer of the zipper is separated from the other, for easy reassembly of the parts when desired.

Among the objects of the invention are simplicity and economy of manufacture.

My invention provides the above improvement in function by a simple modification of the slider and of the clip or retainer which is in general use to hold the two ends of the stringers together. Such a retainer is a U-shaped member clamped firmly upon the end of one stringer and providing a socket projecting from that stringer to removably receive a pin member on the other stringer.

For easy reassembly of such pin with the retainer, it is desirable that the slider be held in alignment with and against the top of the retainer because it is necessary for the pin to be threaded through the slider into the socket of the retainer.

According to my invention this is accomplished by a short integral projecting hook on one side of the retainer which matches with a corresponding notch in the slider, such hook and notch preferably being on the backside of the fastener, that is, the side opposite from the pull tab.

Another object of my invention is to provide cooperating camming surfaces on the hook of the retainer and notch of the slider so that the parts will be automatically guided together if the slider is accidentally disengaged from the hook.

In the drawings there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 1 is a view from the backside of the bottom portion of a zipper incorporating my improvements and showing the parts in assembled relationship.

Fig. 2 shows the bottom portion of the zipper with one stringer removed and illustrating a position which the slider may assume when accidentally disengaged from the retainer.

Fig. 3 shows the slider in the act of camming over the hook of the retainer to put it in proper position for reassembly of the other stringer.

Fig. 4 is a similar view showing the slider engaged with the retainer in position for reassembly of the parts.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the clip or retainer member, and

Fig. 6 shows the formed blank from which the retainer is made.

The slide fastener or zipper with which my invention is shown comprises the usual stringers consisting of the tapes 10 and 11 having beaded edges 13 and 14 to which rows of fastener elements or scoops 12 are attached. A slider 15 moves over the fastener elements 12 to open and close the zipper in the usual manner. The slider is shown only from the backside in the drawings, but, as usual, it comprises front and back plates connected by a neck at one end and having a pull tab on its front side for operating the slider. Closely adjacent the bottom 2 ends of the rows of fastener elements there are attached pin members 16 and 17 embracing the beaded edges 13 and 14, respectively, the removable pin 17 preferably being curved as shown in Fig. 1.

The separable end connection of my invention employs a U-shaped clip or retainer 18 which has internal ribs 19 and 20 along its edges and 'a rib 21 between the ribs 19 and 20. This provides a channel 22 surrounding the pin 16 and a larger channel 23 for removably receiving the pin 17. The retainer grips tightly around the pin 16 so that it is permanently held thereon. This retaineris conveniently made from a rolled strip shown in Fig. 6 which merely requires to be cut 01f from the strip to length and bent to U-shape around the pin 16.

According to my invention, however, a hook-like projection 24 extends from one wing of theU-shaped clip preferably on the backside of the fastener. This projecting hook has a relatively wide camming surface 25 leading to the hook portion 26 which is inclined upwardly and outwardly. A notch 27 in the back wing of the slider corresponds generally in shape to the hook 24 although it is somewhat wider. It has a camming surface 28 and a shoulder 29 cooperating with the hook 26 to hold the slider normally in assembled relation with the retainer as shown in Fig. 4. The width of the notch is sufiiciently greater than that of the projection so as to provide a clearance between the projection and sides of the notch to permit the hook-like projection to snap over the cooperating hook-like portion or shoulder 29 of the notch.

In operation, assuming the normal condition of the parts when the stringers are separated, the slider will have been moved against the retainer and held there as in Fig. 4. This is because the hook on the retainer is held in the notch 27 of the slider by the twisting action of the stringer 13 upon the slider. This holds the slider in proper position for easy reassembly of the pin 17 on the stringer 11 because it can be threaded through the channel of the slider into the aligned channel 23 in the retainer. The slider can then be pulled up to close the fastener because only a light pull is required to disengage the hook 24 from the notch 27 due to the inclination of the interengaging surfaces. If, as sometimes might happen, the slider is accidentally disengaged from the hook 24, as seen in Fig. 2, it can easily be put back in place because the camming surface 25 will cooperate first with the end of the slider and then with the cam surface 28 of the notch 27, as seen in Fig. 3, to guide the slider over the hook 26 where it will snap into the position as shown in Fig. 4.

As a result of my invention, it will be evident that the feature of holding the slider in perfectly aligned position for assembly of the disengaged stringer is provided with a very simple change in otherwise standard parts, it being necessary to provide only a hook-like extension on one side of the retainer and a corresponding notch in the slider.

It is also clear that the camming surface of the hook cooperates with the slider to guide the parts readily into position in case the slider is accidentally displaced from the retainer while the fastener is separated.

I claim:

1. In a zipper fastener of the separable end type, a pair of fastener stringers having rows of cooperating fastener elements along adjacent longitudinal edges, a slider having front and back wings joined by a neck at their upper ends and movable over said rows of elements for opening and closing the fastener, a separable end connection comprising pins embracing the edge of said stringers adjacent the bottom ends of said rows of fastener elements, and a U-shaped retainer member permanently fixed to one of said stringers, said retainer having a socket for removably receiving the other of said pins on the opposite stringer, one side of said U-shaped retainer having a hook-like projection extending upwardly from the mid portion of the upper edge of said side of the retainer toward the fastener elements, and the wing of said slider on the same side of the fastener as said projection having a notch extending upwardly into the wing, said notch being in alignment with said projection and with a shape corresponding to said hook-like projection, said notch being sufficiently wider than the projection to provide a clearance between the projection and sides of the notch to permit the hook-like projection to snap over the cooperating hook-like portion of the notch, the hook portion of said projection extending toward the said other pin, said projection and notch being interengaged when said slider is moved against said retainer to hold said slider in proper position for reassembly of the removable stringer while the latter is disengaged from the retainer.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the adapted to engage the slider to guide the same into proper alignment with the retainer and into interengagement with said projection.

3. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein the interlocking surfaces of said projection and notch incline upwardly and outwardly to permit their disengagement when an upward pull is placed on the slider.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,785,715 Norton Dec. 16; 1930 2,157,381 Carlile 3- .l May 9, 1939 2,583,386 Moehler Jan. 22, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 

